introducing...

this would be about the time i would be blogging about my 39th week of pregnancy, but instead i get to give you a better update...bowie rae made her debut on march 21st at 9:14pm, she is 21.5 inches tall and 7 pounds 15 ounces!!!  she came at 38 weeks and 6 days for me, and it just so happens that my last blog post was on that day, so i went into labor that night.  here we are a week later and now that you have read all about my pregnancy journey, here is the birth story and some catch up from the last week.

last sunday (one week ago today) we meet our good friends from out of town in the city for lunch.  i was feeling good, having had some cramping and mild contractions all weekend.  we had a great lunch and headed home late afternoon.  i even sent out this picture of me to my friends that day asking when they thought bowie would come?!?!

everyone responded with dates late in march or even in april.  sooo...when i got home and took a nap it was around 5pm and i woke up around 7:30pm to my water breaking.  i wasn't completely sure at this point if i was absolutely correct, but as i got up and started to "leak" (sorry) i realized that i was pretty sure this is what had happened.  i came down the stairs and jarad was working in the garage, i asked him if he could come inside the house.  i wasn't panicked, but the thought that i could be in labor started to sink in.  i told him the news and we called the hospital, who told us to come in when we were ready (since i was not having contractions at this point) there was no rush.  we called our families and i took a shower and made sure the babysitter was situated with wilfred and double checked i had everything i needed for my hospital bag.  around 10pm we made our way into the hospital and checked into the birth center.  they confirmed that my water broke and that at that point i was admitted.  i started to get some contractions in the car, but nothing too painful, so i was watching the timing of them.  once admitted in the hospital they were coming more frequently and with some pain to them.  we were put in our birthing suite and i wanted to take a bath, but this was in no way comfortable for me or helped relieve any of the pain from contractions.  i asked the nurse (this was around 2:30am) what kinds of pain relief were available to me prior to getting the epidural.  they gave me something in my IV that lasted for about 30-40 minutes, it did not take away the pain but took the edge off of the contractions.  at this point i also put the order in for my epidural and received it around 4am, i was extremely nervous for this!!!  i got my epidural around 4am and although it wasn't pleasant, it was not as bad as i expected and the relief from it came pretty quickly.  however, my right side went completely numb and i still had feeling in my left leg.  this was a very strange sensation.  at this point i got really itchy from the medication and they were able to give me benedryl to help with the terrible itch, but this made me really sleepy.  this wasn't a bad thing because i was able to get some rest from the early hours of the morning until afternoon.  and i was so happy my parents were able to catch a flight out monday morning and arrived in the hospital around 11am!  with plenty of time to spare.  the afternoon was good, i was comfortable, however my dilation was only at 4 cm and not progressing fast enough.  they started giving me pitocin to increase the frequency and strength of my contractions.  this was working, but very slowly.  my doctor arrived and we discovered that bowie was what you call "sunny side up" and her head was facing upwards, instead of towards my back like babies should be when  you deliver.  this was causing my dilation to slow down and the doctor tried to manually move and flip her, but this was not working.  around 4 or 5pm i was starting to get very uncomfortable and in pain and they increased my epidural.  i was told to push since her head was down so low, but this really didn't work.  we stopped pushing and the doctor reassessed.  i had enough room to deliver her, but i would have to wait to be a full 10 cm dilated first.  the last few hours from 5-8:30pm were very rough on me and i was in a lot of pain.  i was using a peanut shaped yoga ball to see if this would help with correcting her position and all i can say is i was hurting at this point.  it was also around this time that my indigestion kicked up and i was having the worst heartburn ever.  the woman in the suite next to me also had this same situation and she ended up having a c-section, which is what they have to do most of the time.  by 8:30pm i was officially dilated to 10cm and it was time to push.  i had a great team on my side, a fantastic doctor, one resident doctor, 2 nurses and of course my supportive and encouraging cheerleader of a husband.  it took about 45 minutes and they kept telling me her head is right here, and then finally one big push at the end and she was here and was immediately put on my chest.

i could hardly believe i did it!  there were a few times in that 23 hour period of time from my water breaking to her delivery that i told jarad "i don't know if i can do this."  and his response was always the same "you are doing awesome, and you already are doing it."  it was a beautiful moment and you fall in love at first sight.  and then when i got a good look at her, i could not believe the amount of hair she had!  i can now say that i am a believer in the old wives tale about bad heartburn and a hairy baby.  we did a lot of skin to skin time and she got to have that with jarad as well and then they start with breast feeding right away.  that night is all kind of a blur, we were so filled with emotion, and you have nurses coming in all the time to check in and do some testing.  since she was born late at night and they need to keep you for 24 hours, we were not let out of the hospital until wednesday afternoon around 2pm.  coming home was so nice, we were ready at that point.  we came home to my parents here with a fridge full of food, some flowers and balloons and it was exciting to see wilfred's reaction to her.  he has been so curious and gentle with her.  i know he is having a hard time not being the baby anymore, but i can tell he will be good with her.  here are some pictures from the last few days...

she is 6 days old at this point and around this time one week ago i went to take that nap that would forever change our lives.  now as i write this i am using my breast pump and feeling like i need another nap.  my dad left today and my mom will be here for another week while we get the hang of things.  there sure is a learning curve when it comes to a newborn.  no matter how much you read and research i am learning something new everyday!  i am happy to say we are all happy and healthy and getting adjusted to our new normal, i will blog about my adventures in breast feeding and postpartum later, but for now this is a glimpse into my happy place...